Is ChefSteps dying?

I remember when this site started. There were lessons, in depth videos, personality and a solid forum of home cooks that wanted to help each other out and even the CS crew chimed in with replies.

Now it seems like just the forum is left (and hidden in a small link on the very bottom of the front page).

What happened Grant and gang? I understand Joule came out and you made a business out of that, but you left your baby in the corner!

I'm hopeful the classes/tutorials come back strong and we get to see more videos in the near future. That's my New Years wish!

Fingers crossed...

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Comments

montebello1964

The class-based business plan never make sense to me. Joule is the savior of ChefSteps! Be thankful!

tshewman

With so much work toward regulatory and constant recipe updates (many of which come with video-time intensive), there seems to be a constant update and advancement to support a much larger base. That said, they have expressed the desire to bring back some of the past and may be working on it, but we need to be patient and understanding. What they have done with Joule is obviously not easy and simply demanding to ensure their base grows. This takes time. Imho

dancurren

Content can be a pretty lucrative business model on its own but it is also a pretty unique marketing device that they have over their competitors.

dancurren

Content can be a pretty lucrative business model on its own but it is also a pretty unique marketing device that they have over their competitors.

dancurren

I toowould love to see more content but if Chefsteps does primarily continue to be a hardware business, I would love to see them role out a sousvide level of control to rival the Breville Control Freak. There are so many things I would love to be able to do with sousvide precision the an immersion circulator cant do easily - stocks, sauces, custards, making fresh cheese, etc. There are work arounds or chamber vacummed but its not the same ziplock bagging these is a pain.

There is no way they couldnt produce a portable induction flat top with a probe and same PID controller for way less tham the $1200 or whatever the control freak goes for... and offer an over head stirer accessory so you can walk away from custards, etc.

Thoughts?

JasonWirth_68226

I think Nick’s feelings come from a lack of official voice in the community — and their own community/forum. For Chef Steps to have been so vocal and now so silent is like seeing your friend who was once the center of the party quiet and lifeless is disappointing.

robmcquarrie

I'm hoping that's what this does. https://tastyshop.com/collections/tasty-one-top

montebello1964

Define lucrative? It's all relative. A blogger making $200 extra a month might be lucrative. But some notable cooking magazines and websites can't make enough money from content to stay in business these days. It's not a business I would want to be in.

JasonWirth_68226

Kids reviewing toys on YouTube and making $11MM.

dancurren

Print media, no. You have huge expenses - not only delated to physical printng but from distribution, marketing etc.

But hardware manufacturing isn't much more desirable either. You also have huge production costs and challenges, distribution, marketing, etc. Given the saturation of sousvide devices realtive to the current market, margins would be fairly slim and capital requirements significant. This is the reason you saw a trend, that IBM began about 5 or 6 years ago, of hardware focused tech companies trending towards software of support.

Yes, you do get some deals where an investment banker convinces a client to make an aquisition at an absurdly unjustifable multiple (e.g. $250 million for Anova), but those are often signs of irrational exhuberance (to quote Alan Greenspan) and will likely result it a massive writedown of goodwill. If you question that, consider this: do you think Chefsteps spent anywhere near a quarter billion to develop Joule and is the Anova far superiror to Joule? The answer is no and no. They were buying developed brand recognition in hopes of turning that into a mass market product as oppossed to the relative niche it really still is (despite growing popularity).

There is an old saying in media that content is king and I would argue that rings true hear.

Sousvide is a long way from being a household staple but if it is ever to become one then Chefsteps has an opporunity to ride within the wake of the early movers. They have a far superior product and people.will see that - hardeare side covered.

But what will make sousvide mainstream? Not likely. It hasnt yet. The general population doesnt have a huge interest in gourmet cooking; many can't make a bowl of cereal...Plus what is the advantage over a slow cooker?

The mellenial consumer loves its social media, it loves it video instructions, it loves its instagrambility, etc. Chefsteps clearly gets this given its effort to add these features to the app. What I would argue is that non-Joule owners don't see this content unless they already own Joule... but they can see the youtube videos and blog posts...

So when it comes to content or hardware, would you want to own Netflix or a cable company that pipes Netflix to co sumers ( yes cable companies are huge but what are their multiples relativs to content providers?).

I appologize. This has been an inchorent, run on ramble but too many drinks in the airport lounge will do that. I would just argue that the old Chefsteps could frally differentiatr the company and a mix of every day items and aspirational items that have the potentional to go viral with their wow factor could be ehat sets them apart.

HammeredChef_DEFINITELY_does_NOT_work_at_22134

look at the Paragon which is now $150 on Amazon....

dancurren

I bought the Paragon from its kickstarter campaign and had some problems with it... and I found their support to be woefully lacking. I was hoping for somrthing with better build quality, support and also a little sleaker design. Fingers crossed that we'll see this one day..... also I looked up the Control Freak and it's actually about $1800 ($2,800 here in Canada! wth)

nick.pmallon

Thanks for all of the replies. I get that the hardware of Joule and ChefSteps other pending inventions take up a ton of time, but I think using the actual website to essentially be a guide on using these tools and focusing on your audience could be extremely profitable in its own right. Most of the team are chefs. The recipes and skills are second nature to them and could easily be shared. Making Sous Vide with Joule common in most homes would only be easier by putting the content up for us and many more to see and discuss before Serious Eats or somebody takes over that platform as well.

Brandon_Nelson_495624

I'm sad to see the current state of ChefSteps. I joined and became a premium member with the thought that they would continue to provide value add to their content. This was before the Joule came out. Now they peddle the circulator and fail to recognize that if you want to sell it at a premium price vs. your competitor that you need to keep the brand they built their reputation on. Instead they are just another hardware company with just another gadget that costs substantially more. Anova has a Nano slated for < $100 sometime this year and the current lineup is still cheaper.

storm_tr00per_1007290

Hey there! I'm new to this forum so I don't know how it was before. A friend of mine recommended it. I'm an old Google searcher and a primitive Instagram user in the culinary field. For me cooking is a hobby, I like sharing my recipes with the world and that's why I've registered on Instagram. I think it is a great platform for cooking (and other fields) where you can share and at the same time learn from others (Food Minimalist, Joy the Backer and even Chef Steps are a few pages that I follow). Now I'm concentrating on growing my audience there (https://hashtagpirate.com is a great way to do it) and hopefully in the near future I'll become a famous chef! Cheers!